The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ondo State , Olusegun Agbaje, said on Thursday that there are reports that some persons were planning to clone permanent voter cards, warning that such acts would attract severe punishment.
Mr. Agbaje who spoke at the presentation of the voters register to political parties in Akure, said the cloned cards would be detected by the card readers to be deployed by the electoral commission, INEC, for the election.
"We hear people are cloning cards to cheat during the election," he said. "Cloned cards will not work, the card readers will detect the cloned cards."
Mr. Agbaje warned voters to protect their cards from those who would want to steal the cards for dubious purposes.
"Protect your cards, don't sell them, it is a criminal offence. There will be enough card readers, so that if any malfunctions it will be immediately replaced," he said.
The commissioner also debunked claims by the All Progressives Congress and businessman Jimoh Ibrahim, alleging that top officials of the Ondo State INEC were compromised.
"INEC has no candidate for the coming election, anybody who wins will win fairly," he said.
According to him, he had wanted to go to court, but the response from the INEC headquarters against the allegation had addressed the issues.
"INEC will not do anything that reduces the credibility it has built through the years," Mr. Agbaje said.
He disclosed that his office had taken delivery of non-sensitive materials, which had been distributed to all the local government areas.
He noted that no one would be allowed to vote without the PVC, adding that voting without card readers is a nullity.
Also speaking at the session, the Ondo State Police Commissioner, Hilda Harrison, said the command was prepared to bring perpetrators of crime before, during and after the election to book.
She called on political parties to avoid violence and educate their supporters not to destroy posters of political opponents as such acts would be treated as a serious crime.
According to her, some areas already witnessed pockets of violence, assuring that the police and other security agencies had mapped out strategies to forestall such occurrences.
